Gilding the Lily
Chapter 26 of 40
AuretteSituations are assessed. Plans are made. Feelings are tested.
ReviewedAfter designating representatives for each group, most of the crowd settled comfortably in the ballroom while the rest of us moved back into the Emerald Lounge for a conference. Warrington and Urquhart stationed themselves at the front entrance to the house, and Dusty decided to keep them company. The planning committee consisted of Peaches, Angel and Ma from the house, Goyle Sr., Nott and Vaisey from the Death Eaters, and Charlie, Percy and Neville from the Forest, and, of course, Viktor, Severus and me.
"The school is at your disposal, Longbottom. If you can stay discreetly living in the forest for five years without the Ministry getting suspicious, I don't see that it would be a problem for you to make use of the school in a similarly discreet manner. There are no plans for the facility, and I assure you this affair will be done with, one way or another, too soon for him to make any." Severus addressed Neville as leader of that group, and the others seemed content with that. Neville set his shoulders and just nodded acceptance of the offer. It was odd to see them interact as equals.
"Do try to take a bath, Longbottom; it would do no good for the Dark Lord to smell you coming." Alright, maybe not equals.
"I am sorry we've offended your nose, sir. We will be very grateful to move most of us into the school without fear. However, some of us must stay in the forest. The Centaurs are our allies. We'll split the group between the forest and the castle, but it wouldn't be a good idea to just up and leave them en masse after they have granted us asylum. They have protocols and traditions that boggle the mind, but we know enough to wait for them to ask us to leave or risk insulting them terribly. They won't fight with us unless the Dark Lord comes to the forest, but they will grant us refuge if we fail again." A shadow fell across Neville's face as he said this last.
"You did not fail the first time," Severus reprimanded him in a clipped voice. "Firstly, you were mere students. Secondly, there was no way for you to have known. I didn't even know and neither did any of the other principal players besides the Dark Lord's inner circle. It was a risky surprise attack on an overwrought adolescent given too much responsibility, too young. The subsequent destruction of every scrap of viable resistance was due to an absolute failure in planning, a mistake we are here to ensure is not repeated."
Neville did not reply, but he did take a deep breath and his shoulders relaxed as if a weight had lifted off at Severus's words. Percy lifted a hand and gripped Neville's shoulder silently.
"Vat is the most pressing matter before ve turn our mind to attacking?" asked Viktor as he handed me a cup of tea.
"Well, the way I see it, there's a major shortage of wands. None of us in the house have any, besides Ma, and Neville tells me that some of the people in the Forest have lost theirs as well."
"We have that problem already nearly solved," said Theo. He looked at Severus and received a nod. "We've been cultivating Ollivander. It was Granger's idea to speak with the shopkeepers and others disaffected by the Dark Lord's regime. Ollivander spent some time as a guest of the Dark Lord and has been in servitude ever since. He's back running his shop, but the Death Eaters have been taking wands from him with no payment for the last five years. He is rather sympathetic. However, I think it would be good to find some method of payment. He's been living rough."
"He can have this bloody house. We can sell it and give him the money after we win," said Ma. Angel patted her on the back, while Peaches elbowed her in the ribs, lightly.
"We're gonna need this house for a while yet, Agatha," Peaches said, obviously relishing the chance to use Ma's real name for the first time. "Where do you think we're all gonna suddenly go when we win? The forest? Hell to the no."
"The castle has plenty of room," said Percy but was almost drowned out by Theo who blurted, "You can stay with me," and then blushed to the roots of his hair. Peaches fell silent but spent the rest of the meeting with a dazed expression on her face.
"Goyle, go and see if Mr. Ollivander has a moment to spare this afternoon," said Severus. "Take this one with you with you as a character reference." He flicked a disgusted finger at a still red-faced Nott. The two headed towards the door followed by Ma, who after speaking quietly with Viktor and then nodding, scurried out of the room. She returned quickly with a stack of parchment, ink and quills.
Victor transformed the end table next to me into a small desk and pushed it in front of me: taking the supplies from Ma, he placed them on the table.
"I am thinking you need to make notes, yes?" he said, and I beamed at him. He clicked his heels and gave me a short bow and then sat down next to me.
"Our Herm-own-ninny needs paper to plan," he told the room by way of explanation. Still grinning like a nine year old at her birthday party, I grabbed up a quill and opened the ink bottle.
"Right then, do we have an idea of how many wands we need? The members of this house need twenty-four in all." I started to write a list of names.
"We've been sharing what we have and some of them are not a good fit," answered Percy. "We grabbed what we could after the battle, but a lot were burned along with their owners. Many of the ones we have belonged to the Death Eaters Grawp took out when he lost it. He saw Hagrid go down and just went crazy. Of those planning on fighting, we are short four, but that leaves those left behind with none."
"We need a place to practice," said Angel. "We have been brushing up on incantations and wand movements with sticks, but have had no practical use of magic in well over five years. To keep our end up, we need practice."
Ma turned towards Severus. "The charms on the house are keyed by the girls' blood. If you drop them completely, the next Death Eater through the door will know. Is there any way to close the house for the duration? A quarantine?"
"No," he answered. "The house is closed until tomorrow at noon; any longer would look suspicious. However, we might be able to isolate certain rooms and deactivate the wards in those rooms if you think you could keep your clientele away from those areas."
"You can have the entire east wing; it connects to the attic dormitories, so it would be easy for the girls to move about without having to go through the rest of the house."
"Show me, Agatha. I will see what needs to be done so we can reset the wards later."
"Certainly, right this way, Severus."
The two left the room, and I heard their tread on the stairs. For some reason my stomach dropped. People only moved up those stairs for one reason, and even though my brain was firmly in control, or so I told myself, I couldn't help the feeling that I just didn't like the way Agatha had said his name. It was familiar. I remembered her story and realized that they had known each other when they were younger. Had they been friends? They were of an age, after all. I suddenly felt sick and dizzy, and no amount of chiding my foolishness had any effect.
"Herm-own-ninny? Are you alright?" Viktor put his hand on my shoulder. "Here, haff some more tea." He placed a fresh cup into my hands, and I nodded gratefully. I sipped at my tea and listened to the conversation in the room as the various factions knitted together over small talk and biscuits. Viktor rubbed slow, reassuring circles across my back and shoulder until I set the cup aside and gave him a grateful smile.
"You look vunderful, Herm-own-ninny," he said. I felt the same old clench in my gut I always did when someone said that to me.
"It's the house; there are charms on it to make all the ladies look beautiful," I answered.
"These charms, they cannot put that clever look in your eyes, I am thinking. But I did vunder about the hair. Tell me, is it still a bush?" He reached up and took a lock and rubbed it through his fingers. "Yes, I am thinking you are still a pretty girl with wild hair. These charms cannot affect you. They are, how you say? Gilding the lily." I laughed and batted his hand away.
"What else is a priority?" I asked the room in general, thankful to Viktor for bringing my mood back up.
"Clothing for the ladies and medical supplies," answered Angel.
"Do you have any healers in your group, Charlie?"
As we started to thrash out resources and needs, I noticed a movement out of the corner of my eye and turned my head. It was Severus. I hadn't seen him return. I smiled at him, but his face looked carved in stone as he turned away to respond to something Percy had said about potions. The challenge of changing the wards must have been more complicated than he originally thought for him to look so severe.
An hour later and my hands were cramped. It had been forever since I had done this much writing, and I waved my hand to try and work the cramp out.
"Okay, we have groups worked out to their best strength. Nadia and Peaches will be in charge of organizing medical groups. Neville, you and Charlie will be in charge of working out your fighting units. Vaisey, you and Nott will organize the Death Eaters."
"We really need to come up with another name." he muttered.
"Whatever you decide to call yourselves, report to Severus." I was interrupted at this point by the door opening. We all froze until Urquhart called an all clear. Goyle Sr. and Nott entered the room, followed by Mr. Ollivander who was smiling broadly.
It was almost two hours later that Mr. Ollivander was escorted back to the door. All the ladies in the house, and those people from the forest without wands, had all gathered in the Lilac Lounge. He had measured up some people, but had many of us already in his head. It was rather eerie to hear him spit out the attributes of a wand I had lost five years ago. My reaction was mirrored by most of the people in the room.
I escorted him to the foyer with Severus and so was the only other person to see him hand Mr. Ollivander a card.
"Bill them to this Gringotts account."
"As you wish."
"And I don't think I need remind you of the price you will pay if word of this gets out."
"Really, Severus! I hardly think that's necessary!" I said in indignation.
"Don't you mind, miss. He is better off cautious. I will be back tomorrow as planned, sir. And you may rest assured, none will be the wiser." He turned and left, escorted by Nott and Greg Goyle. When the door had closed behind him and Warrington and Urquhart had returned to their stations, I spun around and tugged at Severus's sleeve as he tried to walk away.
"What do you think you're doing? You can't pay for all those wands!" I hissed.
He snatched his sleeve out of my grip.
"I'm not. The Lestranges are. And I've told you before, woman, I am not destitute!" He spun on his heel and stormed out of the foyer. I stood there watching his robes fan out behind him as he left me. This sniping at each other had been going on since Ollivander arrived. He would either ignore me completely or skewer me with short sharp stabs of bitterness. I didn't know what had made his mood so sour, but as the evening came on, I was rapidly losing my patience with him.
Peaches came out of the ballroom with a tray of sandwiches and drinks for our guards at the door. She waved the tray towards me.
"And what about you, o captain, my captain?"
"Oh, do shut up, Peaches," I snapped before turning to follow Severus back into the ballroom.
"Well, hell. Looks like the Princess is back," I heard her mutter as she turned back to the men. "Can't say I missed her."
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Latest 25 Reviews for The Princess of Gryffindor
597 Reviews | 6.94/10 Average
I agree with Mick42 in the sense that I don't like the Voldemort won/everyone's dead/Hermione's a whore stories. I avoid them like the plague. I decided to give this one a go based on the reviews. I was very, very skeptical. There were aspects to the writing that I didn't like, such as it being written in first person, but the memorial scene alone made it well worth the read. I may have shed a tear (or 10).
Wow...just wow. Now I know why all of these other reviewers have shed a tear. I am a mess. Still smiling tho'! Captivating read. Kudos!
Yay, all finished. It's been a while since I've read this, so I had forgotten a lot of the details in the ending chapters, but I still love it as much as I did the first time I read it. You have my in tears reading the end couple of chapters now, but that's terribly easy to do to a pregnant woman, so don't worry too much lol.
I just love Snape, have I ever mentioned that? I do. And it's stuff like this in stories- him vowing to protect Hermione- that make me love him even more..
This is one I've read before, on ffnet I think, but I have to read it here too, it just seems impossible not to reread your favorite stories when you come across them somewhere. The bonus is that you already know you love the story, even if you can't remember all the details between point A and A.D.
My dear Aurette,I have spent half of yesterday and all of today re-reading this unbelievable story. Half of the time, I've been a sobbing, sopping mess - when S&H were gathering forces and found people who were still alive, the whole Harry and Ron speaking to Hermione from the great beyond, the memorial scene (holy crap, talk about sobbing!), reuniting with Minerva's ghost, and the list goes on. I love the plot of the story. I love your numerous OCs. I love how the young DEs revolt. I love how forces from all sides join together to fight the Dark Lord. I love the romance between S&H. I love how utterly vulnerable he is to her, and she to him. I love how wizarding society hero-worships Snape in the end. I love So Many Things about this story. If my heart could take it, I'd start it all over again, but I really wasn't exaggerating when I said I was sobbing half the time I was reading. This might sound odd, but reading this today, US Memorial Day, just makes it seem even more poignant. But I do think it's honoring to RL sacrifices by reading about fictional ones. Thank you so much for this absolutely wonderful story, and for giving me such an enjoyable (if teary and snotty) way to spend my day off.Love,Christev
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
{{{hugs}}}What a beautiful thing to say. I am deeply touched and honored. Thank you, Christev.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
{{{hugs}}}What a beautiful thing to say. I am deeply touched and honored. Thank you, Christev.
Heartbreaking and wonderful and worth rereading. Thank you for sharing this.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
I'm so glad you enjoyed. ;-)
Just re-read this and had to mention: Best Epilogue Ever. Why couldn't you have given JK a few pointers? ;-p
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
LOL! She never asked... Thank you!
I've just flown through the last several chapters, held in thrall to this story! This is just genius, you know, starting at a place of total desolation - this terrible post-war dystopia - and taking all the elements from DH (the prophecy from Severus, the Hallows, even walking beside the dead and moving with them before returning to earth - thanks particularly for including Draco with the others), using them as they were meant to be used, finding another way of stopping Voldemort and reenvisioning a new world in the aftermath.
And I love seeing Snape marked as the Man Who Lived! And a father! And the Minister! (And that proposal? Mmm-hmm... clearly, he has caught on to everything Hermione's been teaching him!)
You strike such a great balance between comedy and high drama. It's such a pleasure to read.
Oh, Goyle. Goyles will be Goyles, I suppose!"I think you have just been metaphorically peed on." Oh, I love this line... particularly since Severus' possessiveness towards Hermione is such a strong part of his character (which is why his reluctant willingness to 'share' Hermione rather than lose her was SO terribly shocking).
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
Thank you! And I think, by his behavior in this chapter, you can see he tacitly took those words... back.
Response from ofankoma (Reviewer)
Oh, absolutely! That's what's so marvelous to see in this Snape. He acts impulsively so often, and then immediately knows that it's not what he really wanted, and is slowly learning to keep it all in check as he accepts the fact that she really loves him and that he's truly safe with her.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
Hannah and Neville! Woo-hoo! (You can just feel the little triumphs along the way - things are getting brighter all the time!) And the lack of trust between all parties involved... yes, that feels completely, completely believable.(Also,I don't know that I've ever met an original character that I've liked, but Peaches is fantastic. Just fantastic. You make me change my mind on a lot of things, I think...)
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
I intentionally started this tale as dark as I could make it, and then slowly let the light in. Neville and Hannah were such a beacon of hope...
Ah, the trust between the two as they examine the girls! And her red robes... yes, I imagine Severus doesn't want Hermione in anything less than a high-necked robe in front of her old beau.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
Trust is something they thought they had, but as you can see, they are both too emotionally unsophisticated to not end up with issues.
Whoa, whoa, whoa... Elder Goyle and Ma are two revelations here, aren't they? As for the former, it really makes me wonder (again and again) what Voldemort's plan was 'when' he won. Why cheat Death if you have nothing to live for? For someone as hypothetically long-sighted as he was (looking to an eternity of power and control over the wizarding world), he's remarkably short-sighted here (what do you do now that you've won?). You raise all sorts of fascinating questions here. And Ma, with the Veritaserum? Grand.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
Ma was intended to just be a stock vilain, but she elbowed her way toward three dimentional. I was very happy with the way she worked out.
The robes! Wonderful, wonderful, all around, from Hermione's comfort in them and the note exchange.Charlie and Viktor? You're really getting things moving here, aren't you? Momentum. You're really a master with creating a momentum that just pulls a reader through the story. I don't mean just here, but everything I've read up til now - it's so well paced and unfolds so naturally. In case I haven't said this in a chapter or two, thanks so much for sharing this.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
I was very attuned to the pacing of this tale. It was my very first mult-chaptered fic and getting the pacing down right was one of my primary concerns. Thank you so much for reviewing it!
Hooray! I love what you've done with Theo Nott. The second guessing and the regret shows how easy it was for misguided, then-ambivalent people to latch on to Voldemort's coat tails. (Cloak tails?) Very like Severus at that age, no?You're also hilarious, but I suspect you know that. "Conjure myself some decent clothes?" FABULOUS.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
Exactly! I saw Theo as not being wildly different from young Snape, just perhaps a bit more entitled. I am so glad you liked this.
Wow. There are so many things I love, love, love in this chapter. First off, the relationship between Severus and the Malfoys. (Ach, and the horror of their deaths!) Next, Dumbledore's attitude. I, for one, have a tendency to vilify the man. Reading the repentance he shows here makes me rethink a lot of things about him. (So thank you for challenging me!) But you're right - we have a lot of evidence in DH that there are many unspoken things in his past that explain his present actions. And, of course, it's just a relief to see that he finally has someone to tell all this to, someone who will care for him and stand by him through it all. This is just wonderful, and I'm completely loving your writing and this story!
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
I also have a tendancy to vilify Dumbledore, but I know that was never JKR's intention, so every so often I try and reset my thinking. Then I backslide. lol.
There are so many reasons I love this story... wonderful narrative flow, seamless incorporation of canon devices (Hallows! Can't wait to see them in action!), a fresh perspective on the nature of evil in the Voldemort regime, a place to see regrets worked out and atoned for.But the single greatest reason why this is so fabulous is your clear vision of your characters. What we know of them from JKR is fleshed out so beautifully here, and it's not a happy-go-lucky, cleaned up and sanitized version of the very broken people we know (and love), but a hard look at the mistakes they make and how they learn together to move on and forgive one another in a much deeper understanding of who the other really is.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
This chapter was my impetus for writing the whole fic. I wanted to get to this scene. Of course, once I did, I then had a Ministry to over throw... lol.
Oh, now that's interesting... incorporating the Hallows? I think this means we'll get to see some action from the Elder Wand (killing Voldemort?), the Resurrection Stone (Harry and Ron?), and the Invisibility Cloak (I have no idea on this one... it's useful in so many ways). I can't wait to see where they lead!
Severus' thoughts on the ambition of Voldemort five years out are interesting... it certainly does make you wonder - what would Tom have done had he won? Did he have a plan in place? I mean, the fear of ignominious death aside, what was really motivating his actions? What did he envision for the Wizarding world?
There's much that I enjoy in this chapter... the way they recognize each other as being, really, the only people left on earth (that we know of so far) who can really see one another is fantastic. Antarctica banter with penguins! 'Whoever had broken this man deserved to burn in hell.'What I found myself wishing I had here was Hermione's musings on her own sexual history. Was she a virgin before she was enslaved here? I found I wanted this when she first talked about her position as a whore with Snape as well... I just want it sometime. (Maybe it's coming up later? We'll see!) There seems to be space for her to say that she's still a virgin (so to speak) with a great deal of this as well. And defend her innocence. Since she never kissed Ron in the final battle (AU breaks off earlier here, right?), has she even been kissed?
Response from ofankoma (Reviewer)
(Because Severus very well may be right in trying to stop her... for her own peace of mind, certainly, and for the fact that she's been traumatised for years there. Another sexual experience now may not be helpful on the road to recovery, and he'd certainly be remiss if he didn't know the situation before letting her have her way with him...)
The harpsichord? That's hilarious. Does she tune it herself, as well? All the descriptions of this place add up to a bizarre, depressing, garish nightmare. It's like everyone tossed in their leftovers and out popped a brother, or several people's lives just vomited out all their extras on the (Voldemort-run) street.
Ah, Draco. I'm sad to hear he's lost. I have a soft spot for him as one of the people who gave Severus a will to go on in HBP and DH. I would have liked seeing your Snape deal with him.
That last long paragraph on the enigma of Snape? Spot on. It sums up why he's such a fascinating character in canon: powerful and powerless, beautiful and ugly, lauded and humiliated. The ambiguity of him is so rich, and not in the Dumbledore 'we sort too soon' sort of way, claiming that he's truly a Gryffindor at heart merely because he's on the side of good.
As to protection, well, that's another one of the strongest themes attached to him in canon, isn't it? He's constantly fighting to protect people - even people he despises -and he prepares them all to do the same. Your Hermione's a lucky girl...
Well done, you.
Hmm... "I, too, practice self-denial?" I think he might practice a few kinds of denial here, since he did just move to kiss her. (Of course, perhaps poor Severus doesn't know any better. He missed out on the 'What not to do whilst visiting a whorehouse' lesson in finishing school.) I greatly appreciate a post-DH Snape who doesn't know what to do with a woman... after all, when you poke around in canon, it seems fairly obvious that his social calendar was empty.
I also enjoy the dynamic you're setting up between Hermione and Peaches, the latter of whom is clearly in control of her own destiny in a way that Hermione just isn't... yet.
And...Harry and Ron? What?!?
Oh, gravy! Lime-green peignoirs and silver mules? This is a high class establishment poor Hermione's stuck in. (Although the lime-green clothing is oddly reminiscent of St. Mungo's...)
I love a phrase like "She floated in like a frigate in full sail." Really, the oppressing shabbiness of the place is overwhelming. I'm so very wary of new characters, so I'm really hoping I will like yours... Peaches, maybe yes? Ma, maybe no. Unless we do know Ma or Angel already and they're just under aliases like the Princess?
Drinking Cocoa enticed me back here to revisit this wonderful, deep, rich tale once again, when I should be doing my own writing and in other ways getting the heap of papers on my desk cleared and sorted (not to mention getting to bed at a decent hour). But, no, I had to swallow this beautiful work whole once again, rediscovering all its complexities and marvels, emotions and heatbreak, fascinations and intricacies. And it is now nearly 2am, and I can at last climb into my solitary little bed, wrapped in the warmth of some quite satisfying and delicious writing. Thank you.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
I thank you, truly, for your revisiting this story. Nothing is more satisfying than knowing it is apreciated on a second reading as well. :-)
I give it five years before Brilliant figures out how to spell that journal open and gets the shock of her young life hahahaha.
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
LOL! Oh, that would be Brilliant! You need to write that fic!
Response from StarryEyedNoOne (Reviewer)
I haven't wrote HP fanfic since I was the age of a first year lol. I pray to any diety that's listening that NONE of it is still floating aroung out there. :-\
Response from Aurette (Author of The Princess of Gryffindor)
LOL! I understand. I once read that if you aren't embarrased by something you wrote a year ago, you are no longer growing as a writer. Hell, I get embarrassed over things I wrote last week...